2022 CTCC Master’s Challenge
On Saturday, May 14th, after the Preliminary Events in the CT Tree Climbing Competition, the Master’s Challenge was held in order to determine the top Connecticut Tree Climber. In order to participate in the CTCC Master’s Challenge, the climber must be a resident of Connecticut. Competitors in the Challenge are selected in terms of order of finish, up until there are three competitors. If a higher placed competitor chooses not to stay for the Challenge, the next highest finisher is moved up to fill the vacant space.
The three competitors in the 2022 Master’s Challenge were:
Tim Reynolds
Kyle Donaldson
Jake Slade
In the Master’s Challenge, three work stations are placed in a large tree, and climbers move through the tree completing assigned tasks. The competitors are scored on the basis of skill as well as speed as they complete the tasks during the Master’s Challenge. Each competitor has 20 minutes in which to complete his climb (no women climbers competed in 2022). The competitor’s climb is not considered as completed until all gear, including all ropes, have been removed from the tree.
This year, the Master’s Challenge was held in a large red oak. The climb was made interesting as, following a day of very cool and pleasant weather, in the late afternoon the sky become increasingly darker, the wind picked up and the air got cool. It was not until the last competitor, Jake Slade, was ready to climb that the rain actually started to fall. The judges, after conferring, decided that, until there was concern about lightning in the area, the competition would continue until its conclusion, with Jake climbing in the rain.
The order of finish in the Master’s Challenge for 2022, with each climber score, is as follows:
Jake Slade – 254.00 points
Tim Reynolds – 241.00 points
Kyle Donaldson – 210.33 points
With that result, Jake Slade was declared the 2022 Connecticut Tree Climbing Competition Champion.
Event Chair Bud Neal presents Jake Slade with the Connecticut Tree Climber’s Championship Cup from 2022.
